Justification:Pandanus balfourii is endemic to the Seychelles, where it occurs in different habitats in the coastal areas of the granitic islands up to 150 m asl. This habitat is declining due to construction and human development. Historically, it was one of the dominant species in coastal areas. It is most likely that a past population reduction through human settlement, construction and agriculture, which occurred mainly in coastal area, exceeds 30% in the past three generations. It is therefore listed as Vulnerable.

Endemic to Seychelles, this species is recorded from the 15 islands: Mahé, Praslin, Silhouette, Curieuse, La Digue, Félicité, Frégate, Aride, Cousin, Cousine, North Island, Conception, Grande Soeur, Marianne and Thérèse (Robertson 1989, Hill 2002, Dogley and Matatiken 2006). The total area of these island is 240 km² (National Statistics Bureau 2005). The suitable habitat is restricted to the lowlands near the coast, therefore the total area of the islands includes large areas of unsuitable habitats. It therefore occurs in a restricted area with an extent of occurrence (EOO) of less than 5,000 km² and an area of occupancy (AOO) of less than 500 km².

The total number of mature individuals and the sizes of subpopulations are not known. Historically, it was one of the dominant species in coastal areas (Diels 1922). Nowadays it is still relatively common (Dogley and Matatiken 2006). A decline can not be quantified. But is very likely that a past population reduction through human settlement, construction for tourist infrastructure and agriculture, which occurred mainly in coastal area, exceeded 30% over three generations.

The species grows well in variety of coastal and soil conditions, ranging from marshy areas and sandy conditions to boulders near the sea. The altitude range is from coastal dunes to about 150 m asl.

The dispersal mode is not known, but as this is by far the endemic species with the largest number islands of occurrence it can be assumed that there must be an inter island dispersal mode. It is possible that sea currents disperse the species.